(DO NOT try to get companies to declare that whatever you purchased is less than $20 if it's not. They get in serious trouble, and so do you - we used to have customers try to get us to do that all the time.)

Thanks for the hints ... Not to worry! as I mentioned in the beginning I'm only interested in doing it above board and fully legit! It's not worth the risks to myself, or the shipper.

No problem. Having my husband in Austin and me here has resulted in some seriously weird customs issues - I try to help wherever I can.

Oh - one thing to remember is that if you're ordering a sewing machine, or sewing machine parts, you are essentially duty free - if it's made in a most favoured nation. So my bernina parts (Switzerland) are essentially duty free, all I have to do is pay GST. And the feet are about half the price they are in Ontario.

I can't believe the extra charges some of you are paying. I shop US online all the time. Cotton is under the US/Canada free trade agreement so there should not be duty on cotton fabric. I have shopped online for years and have only paid a fee for customs to check my parcel. The shops usually ship in a USPC priority envelope or box. You can get 7 yds of cotton in an envelope and (I think 23 yds) in a box. If a shop uses a broker such as Fedex, I don't shop there. Fedex will surcharge your shippment. It is cheaper to get 2 priority envelopes than a box and customs don't seem to pick up the envelopes as much a s the boxes. My orders often range $50 - $75. I get my shippments 2 weeks to 21 days.

UPS has very high rates, postal service is much better for cost. It will probably take about two weeks and if your order is under $50 there will not be any extra charges, $50-100, maybe a bit(under$20) , and if you spend over $100, you will surely have to pay. In my experience, as a quilted and a postal worker, it's usually well worth ordering from the US. They have much cheaper pricing and the shipping charges aren't too high

However we do have some nice shops here in Canada if you can find what you need. it is a good option to shop locally.

A surcharge of $68 for 5 FQs, would take the joy out of the goodies without a doubt. And I'm looking at a larger order than 5 FQs.

That's what I thought she said too, and I thought it was outrageous, but what she actually said was 5 FQ **bundles**. I don't know how big a bundle is, but I'm guessing at least 10 FQ's. $68 still seems like a hefty tariff... hey, how many FQ's in a bundle?

Aha. Cotton is under NAFTA if it's made or woven in the North America. The origin is what's important here, and what's done where. Woven in North America from "domestic" thread, or *sometimes* woven in north america from raw materials from elsewhere. (Egyptian Terry Cloth Towels are under Nafta if they're woven in Canada, but not if they're woven in Egypt and "Finished" in Canada, for example.) There's very little fabric made in North America. Moda, which is made in (IIRC) korea, or the beautiful Bali batiks I'm so addicted to, wouldn't count. IIRC, Connecting Threads is made in mexico, and that would be considered duty free.

(I learned more than I ever wanted to know about the production of men's boxer shorts in the research on this topic. Fascinating stuff, really.)

As an aside, this is why VERY few stores in Canada offer FQ bundles. I tried to special-order moda's Hometown and was quoted $180 for the bundle, largely due to the duty. This is why our fabric prices are so damn expensive, we basically pay either way.

That being said, for those near the border:

If you stay down for 24 hours (or less, most border guards don't care_, you can bring back $50 worth, duty free, regardless of origin.
If you stay down for 48 hours, you can bring back $450 worth of stuff.
If you stay down for 48 hours - 6 months (the max time you can spend in the US as a visitor without a visa) you can bring back $750 worth of stuff.

This is per person, not per vehicle. So if my mom, my best friend, and I all go to visit my husband for a week, we can bring back $2250 worth of fabric, duty free. If we bought $3,000 worth of stuff, we would pay duty and taxes (yay hst! - Don't forget, on top of canadian fabric prices, our sales tax in ontario is 13%) on $750.

When I go visit the Texan, I pack the car FULL for my return trip. Last time I had bolts of W&N, and it gave the border guard fits. She couldn't figure out why I would do that. I explained that $5 a yard is significantly less than the $17 / yard I pay at Len's for the same stuff.

If this "made in the USA" and being cotton makes the difference in large fees or no fees, this is important info
Answer to this question posed to the company that produces my custom designed fabrics:
Are your fabrics from mills in the USA?
All of our fabrics are from American mills with the exception of the fleece and suede which has been shipped from China. Though it's been in the US since last year, and is applying for citizenship.

That was an important factor to me when I chose who would produce my designer fabric. I had no idea how expensive the shipping could be to Canada. I also know that my manufacturer can fit up to 8 yards in an envelope. Sounds like that's the best way to go when passing through the customs procedure.
Jeannie
Head over Heels!